Falling Apart
by aprilgirl01
Summary: Lily Evans and Severus Snape start to fall apart in their fifth year. What starts it? Snape's worst memory, of course, that day by the lake. Watch the scene unfold from Lily's eyes, and how that was only the start of a crumbling relationship. *three-shot*
1. Chapter 1

A/n: every piece of dialogue between Severus, James, Lily, and Sirius is accurate: I checked.

If you look in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, question ten was actually "Identify five signs of a werewolf, and the answers Lily put are actually accurate- check it out, HPOOP, pg 643.

*I don't own anything Harry Potter *

Read and review!

Ch. 1

Marlene McKinnon had a laugh, Lily reflected, that sounded like a chicken. Not that she minded of course, it always made her friend easy to find in a crowd. Still. It was distracting Lily while she was trying to read.

"Alice? Aaaaliiice?" Marlene laughed, "Alice, please, stop staring at Frank Longbottom. It's not becoming."

Lily looked up from her transfiguration book, anticipating a scene. She loved Marlene dearly, she really did, but sometimes Lily thought her friend needed a lesson in common sense. Sure, Alice wouldn't stop making goo goo-eyes at Frank, and sure, the flush on Alice's face was somewhat amusing, but Lily hadn't forgotten that Alice's reputation for the bat- bogey hex was the stuff of legends. So as Alice drew her wand on Marlene, Lily hoped that Alice would take mercy.

Lily's best friend Mary plopped herself down next to Lily, rubbing her eyes.

"Gosh Lils, that DADA exam was intense. What did you put for question ten?"

Lily was always happy to review test answers, especially with Mary, who took Lily's obsession with perfection seriously; unlike certain other Gryffindor fifth years that Lily might have known.

"Question ten… remind me, Mary."

"You're hopeless, Lils. Question ten: identify five signs of a werewolf. What did you put down?"

That's right. Now Lily remembered. "Let's see… I got the tufted tail, the pupils, the snout shape…"

Mary groaned. "The snout! I knew I forgot one." She put her head in her hands. Lily put a hand on her friend's shoulder.

"Hey, it's okay. Come on, I'm sure you did fine. Now, either quiz me on Transfiguration, or sit back and watch Alice and Marlene duel."

Both girls ended up choosing the latter option, and soon all four of them were in hysterics, as Alice placed a clever little jinx on Marlene and the three girls watched gleefully as Marlene shrieked and tore at her hair, which had turned a shocking shade of lime green.

The girls' fun was short lived, however, as soon, an out of breath Alyssa Prewett, the fifth member of their dorm, came running up to Lily, shaking her shoulder incessantly.

"Lils, look. By the tree… your Slytherin friend… it's _them_ again…" Then she ran off. Lily's brow contracted. Her Slytherin friend… that could only be Severus. And _them_… her first guess was that Avery and Mulciber were up to something again. Then she turned around. Then she saw the scene, and her blood ran cold.

_Them_ turned out to be the girls' Gryffindor fifth year counterparts. More specifically, James Potter and Sirius Black. And of course, little Peter Pettigrew who could have been decent, had he not been tagging around with that lot. Remus Lupin, the fourth member of the little party, was paying no attention, or so it seemed. Really. Lily had expected better of her fellow prefect.

By this time, Marlene, Alice, and Mary were standing shoulder to shoulder to Lily, when Lily saw that the knot of admirers surrounding the boys were all laughing, and staring at something by the trees. That's when Lily put two and two together. "Your Slytherin friend…"

Lily saw red, her blood boiling. She barely felt her friends' grasping hands that were halfheartedly attempting to restrain her. She ripped free of their grasp, and flew up the lawn like a whirlwind; up to where that cocky, arrogant _jerk_ had her oldest friend gagging and choking on pink soap bubbles while everyone else laughed.

_"Leave him alone!"_

The puffed- up idiot's free hand jumped to his hair, which he slicked back yet again. When he spoke, James's voice was deeper, more pleasant, more mature, even.

"Alright, Evans?"

The way he tried to flirt with her, Lily was revolted. "Leave him alone. What's he done to you?"

Potter just laughed, and said, (in a nice loud voice, so that everyone could hear him), "Well, it's more the fact that he _exists_, if you know what I mean…"

Lily didn't find it funny. "You think you're funny, but you're just an arrogant, bullying toerag, Potter. Leave him _alone_."

What came next disgusted Lily, "I will if you go out with me, Evans. Go on… go out with me, and I'll never lay a wand on old Snivelly again."

Red seeped back into Lily's vision, and she hissed, "I wouldn't go out with you if it was a choice between you and the giant squid."

Sirius, ever the loyal friend, briskly stated, "Bad luck, Prongs."

Behind their backs, Lily was pleased to see that Sev had gotten up, and had pulled out his wand. Sirius turned, just a second too late, but that didn't stop him from yelling "OY!"

Again, too late. There was a flash of light, and once the spots cleared from Lily's vision she saw a gash on Potter's face, dripping blood.

That disappointed her. She thought Severus was better than that. Quick as a flash, James whirled around, and Sev was up in the air, robes hanging, grey underwear showing.

For a second, Lily saw those underpants, and half a grin threatened to show on her lips. Then, she realized that everyone could see what she was seeing, and _that was Sev they were laughing at!_

Lily was furious again. "Let him down!"

Ever the gentleman (no the sarcasm), Potter replied "Certainly," and Sev crumpled in a heap. Lily's friend sprung up, wand high, but Black yelled

"Petrificus Totalus!" and Sev keeled over again, rigid as a board.

Lily was livid. No other word for it. "LEAVE HIM ALONE!" she shouted. Losing control of her anger, Lily whipped her own wand out. The boys shrank back at the sight of it. Her stinging jinx had put Avery in the hospital wing over night when he had dared to call her a mudblood.

"Ah, Evans, don't make me hex you," Potter said earnestly.

Okay, Lily saw this as a bargaining chip. "Take the curse off him, then!"

Potter sighed, as if this would be a terrible sacrifice, but he muttered the countercurse.

As Sev got his footing, Potter fixed him with a death stare, and said, "You're lucky Evans was here, Snivellus-"

"I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!" Severus snapped.

What? Lily thought she must have heard wrong, but no, those lips that had uttered the unforgivable phrase where Sev's lips- no, Severus. Lily blinked to keep back the tears.

"Fine." She tried to look annoyed, but she doubted that she looked anything more than upset. "I won't bother in the future." Severus had stabbed her in the back, so Lily thought a little payback was due. "And I'd wash your pants if I were you, _Snivellus_."

Lily never thought Potter could be so upset on another's behalf, but he roared, "Apologize to Evans!" and he brandished his wand at Severus.

Severus looked like he was indeed about to apologize, and Lily didn't think she could handle that. "I don't want _you_ to make him apologize," She shouted, her anger found and renewed, "You're just as bad as he is…"

Potter seemed… insulted. "What?" he yelped, "I'd NEVER call you a- you-know-what!"

But Lily had snapped. She couldn't stop. "Messing up your hair because you think it looks cool to look like you're just got off your broomstick, showing off with that stupid Snitch, walking down corridors and hexing anyone who annoys you just because you can- I'm surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with that fat head on it. You make me SICK."

Lily turned on her heal and fled, before she did something stupid, like cry.

Potter shouted something, but she ignored it. She walked back to the lake, where Marlene, Alice, and Mary, having all witnessed the scene, were waiting. Lily saw Marlene first. Her fists were clenched, her jaw locked, she was staring daggers at Severus, shaking with rage, as she hissed, "How dare he… how dare he…"

Alice had only pity. She knew how much Severus had meant to Lily, and she put an arm around the shaking girl, whispering, "It's okay, it'll be okay…" because she didn't know what else to say.

Lily had eyes only for Mary- her only muggle born friend. Mary also looked angry; she always took to her friends personally- especially insults about muggle borns. Mary put a hand on Lily's shoulder, and squeezed. She knew. She understood.

The three girls eventually coaxed Lily up to the castle for a bite of lunch, and the promise that if Severus came anywhere near Lily, they would hex him into tomorrow. Which was good, because Lily didn't want anything to do with the slimeball.

And yet. Somewhere deep down, Lily remembered the little boy who had assured her that blood type didn't matter. And what broke her heart more than losing Severus's friendship, was the knowledge that the little boy was gone forever.

A/n: First scene, check! I hope you liked it. If you did, please let me know in a review. If you didn't, please tell me why not.

Shout outs in the next chapter for all who follow/favorite/review!


	2. Chapter 2

*I don't own Harry Potter (cry)*

"Oy, Lils, guess what?"

Lily brought her head up from a book to see Mary racing towards her from across the common room. "What, Mary?"

Mary's smile faded slightly at the wobbly tone in Lily's voice. She was still upset about the incident with Severus, earlier that day. "Lily, Severus is outside the dorm, he's threatening to sleep out there if you don't go talk to him."

Lily blanched. She was torn with emotions. On one hand, she really did want to hear what Severus had to say, on the other, well, she couldn't forgive him. Not for all the things he had done to her. Lily sighed. "Fine. I'll go."

Mary looked surprised. She had been expecting Lily to turn down the offer. But she had underestimated the friendship Lily and Severus had had.

Lily got up and walked out of the portrait hole, cloak swishing behind her. The back of the portrait closed with a hollow _Bang_!

A once friendly face met Lily's eyes.

"I'm sorry."

"I'm not interested."

"I'm sorry!"

"Save your breath."

Severus opened his mouth again, but Lily cut him off.

"I only came out because Mary told me you were threatening to sleep here."

"I was. I would have done. I never meant to call you Mudblood, it just-"

Hate clouded Lily's eyes. "Slipped out?" There was no pity in her voice. "It's too late." She was done. Done, defending Severus at her own expense. Done arguing with him about every little thing. Done trying to convince him to change his ways.

"I've made excuses for you for years. None of my friends can understand why I even talk to you. You and your precious little Death Eater friends- you see, you don't even deny it! You don't even deny that's what you're all aiming to be! You can't wait to join You-Know-Who, can you?"

Severus almost defended himself, then closed his mouth.

"I can't pretend anymore. You've chosen your way, I've chosen mine." And Lily's heart shattered. There was something about pretending, pretending gave her hope that maybe Severus could turn out okay. Now the time for pretending was done.

"No- listen, I didn't mean-"

But Lily had steeled her resolve. She had no pity for the Slytherin boy anymore.

"-to call me Mudblood? But you call everyone of my birth Mudblood, Severus. Why should I be any different?"

Again, Severus tried to speak, but Lily didn't want to hear it. She gave him one last look of contempt, and turned her back on the boy who, this morning, was her best friend. Now, he was nothing to her but a budding Death Eater.

Lily climbed back through the portrait hole, and flew up into her dorm. Only Alyssa and Marlene were in there- both purebloods, and Lily didn't feel like talking to them right now. So she just lay face down on her bed, and sobbed to her heart's content. And the other girls let her cry, without disturbing her. And none of the other Gryffindor girls knew it, but Lily's heart was shattering, and somewhere in the dungeons, a Slytherin boy's heart was shattering to.

Please review! Can I have 5 reviews before I post chapter three? Also, I would love constructive criticism!


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